Brassiere



M. GINGRAS March 12, 1968 BRASSIERE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 14, 1965 INVENTOR j M. GmGRAs TGRNEYS` March l2, 1968 M. GINGRAS BRASSIERE Filed 0G13. 14, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l /NVENTOR M. GrNcRAs A TroQNEys United States Patent O 3,372,698 BRASSIERE Marcel Gingras, St. Foy, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Dominion Corset Company Limited, Quebec, Canada Filed Oct. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 495,985 Claims. (Cl. 12S-489) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A brassiere in which the body encircling band and the cups are made of material stretchable in all directions. The cups are formed of upper and lower sections joined together by a ladder stitch and a zig-zag seam for maximum expansion and contraction and the straps are stretchably joined to inwardly facing upper edge portions of the cups, and the seams between the cups and adjacent portions of the body-encircling band are stabilized by an arcuate insert. The lower portion of each cup is reinforced by a reinforcing member made in two sections to provide flexibility in the horizontal plane and have their upper edges deeply scalloped and is covered in the inwardly facing side by a layer of material stretchable in ail directions.

This invention relates to brassieres and particularly to a construction which permits one size of brassiere to t either A, B, C or D developments.

The invention consists essentially in the manner in which ythe cups are cut, joined and the material used make the brassiere extensible in all directions to a suliicient degree to tit all the bust developments of one single size of brassiere. The cups are cut from material which is substantially stretchable in all directions. The upper and lower sections of the material making up the individual cups are joined by a line of ladder stitch using an elastic thread which keeps the two adjacent edges of the joint close together. The two parts are then opened flat and stitched on a triple zig-zag machine which has been properly adjusted to make the seam extensible. A specially shaped support is applied to the bottom edge of the lower section of the cup and is lined with 1a piece of the same stretcharble material used for the cup sections. The cups are fitted in a body encircling band made of the same stretchable material as the cup sections. This stretchable material is made of Spandex and nylon and stretches in any direction. The material has a high recovery factor and expands and contracts without binding or pinching.

The brassiere is further characterized in that the cups have inserts and an invisible contour support member oating in the seam joining the cups to the `body encircling band, together provide a maximum of support and hold the brassiere in position regardless `ol lbody movement.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a brassiere in which one cup size in each size of brassiere is capable of stretching from A to size D.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brassiere in which the cups are made of two sections each made from material capable of stretching in all directions, with the lower section provided with an insert support lined with the same stretchable material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brassiere in which the cups are fitted into a body encircling band also made of material stretchable in all directions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brassiere in which upper portions of the cups are joined to shoulder straps stretchable with change of size of the cups.

These and other objects of the invention will be more 3,372,698 Patented Mar. 12, 1968 apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a brassiere according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a parti-al rear elevation of the brassiere illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the support stitched to a stretchable lining member.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an elevational rear View of a bottom bust section of a cup showing the support and lining member of FIG. 4 attached thereto.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a rear plan view of the top and bottom bust sections of a cup showing the method of joining the two sections to provide a stretchafble joint or seam.

Referring to the drawings the brassiere 5 is provided with a body encircling band 6 having end fasteners 7 in well known manner. A pair of breast cups 8 are litted into the body encircling band 6, and a pair of shoulder straps 9 each of which has one end portion 10 stretchably secured to a top edge portion of the band 6 and having their opposite end portions 11 stretchably secured to an upper and inner facing edge portion of the cups 8.

The material from which the body encircling band 6 is made is Spandex and nylon providing stretch in all directions as indicated by the arrows 12. The cups 8 are also made of similar material and is stretchably in all directions as indicated by the arrows 13.

The cups 8 each have an upper and a lower bust section 14 and 15 respectively. The upper bust section is cut to a precise shape and size as shown at 14a in FIG. 8, while the lower bust section is also cut to a precise shape and size as shown at 15a in FIGS. 6 and 8.

The two sections 14a and 15a have their adjacent edges 16 and 17 folded and joined together by ladder stitch seam 18, located .a short distance inwards of the edges An elastic thread is used to make the ladder stitch seam. The two adjacent parts outwards of the seam 18 are folded over at 19 and stitched down with a triple zig-zag stitch 2i) on a machine which has been properly adjusted to make the seam extensible. In FIGS. l, 2 and 8 the joint between the upper and lower bust sections 14 and 15 are shown slightly open or spaced apart, this is for clarification only to show the ladder stitch 18 which, being made of an elastic thread, has the effect of holding the joint between the sections closed.

Before the two sections 14 and 15 are joined together in the manner above described, a specially designed reinforcing member 21 of Cordtex is stitched, along its lower edge 22, to the liner 23, by the stitching 24. The liner 23 is made of the same material as the upper and lower bust sections and is stretchable in all directions. The reinforcing member 21 has its upper edge deeply scalloped at 25 to provide flexibility in a horizontal plane. The reinforcing member 21 is preferably made in two separate sections, one on either side of the vertical medial line of each of the cups 8.

The combined liner 23 Vand reinforcing member 21 are secured to one face of the lower bust section 15a in the manner shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 by means of the stitching 26 passing through the liner 23 and the section 15a and around the edge of the reinforcing member 21 but not through it.

The joined sections 14a and 15a are tted into the body encircling lband 6 and secured in place by the rear reinforcing tape 27 and stitching 28. The reinforcing tape Z7, between the two rows of stitching 28 provides an arcuate pocket 29, to receive a curved supportin g wire 30.

The upper and inner facing edges 31 of the upper bust sections 14 are secured to the end portions 11 of the straps 9 and the rear elastic tapes 32 by means of a double row of zig-zag stitching 33, which permits a uniform stretching of both the material of the upper bust sections 14 and the straps 9 as indicated by the arrows 34. The upper and outer facing edges 35 of the upper bust sections 14 are similarly stitched with a double row of zigzag stitching 36 to rear elastic tapes 37, which permit uniform stretching of the material of the upper bust sections 14 arrd the tapes 27 as indicated by the arrows 3S. The elastic tapes 37 continue along the upper edges of the body encircling band 6 to join with the end portions 1@ of the shoulder straps 9.

The rear elastic tapes 37 serve to seal off the adjacent ends of the arcuate pockets 29 and as a -cushion for the adjacent end of the arcuate supporting wire 30. Similarly, the rear tapes 32 seal off the .adjacent ends of the arcuate pockets 29 and is further reinforced by the insert 39. This reinforcement of the mid portion of the garment stabilizes the garment at this point as well as serving as a protector against the tips of the contour forming wire 30* An elastic tape binding 4% located along the lower rear edge of the body encircling band 6, is secured by zig-zag stitching 41.

The reinforcing members 21 are made of a special ribbed fabric sold under the name Cordtex which is a trademark owned by the Dominion Corset Company Limited. This fabric provides a degree of rigidity in one direction and stretchability in the opposite direction,

It will ybe obvious from the above description of the construction of the brassiere that all areas of the garment are stretchable in all `directions except for the joining of the cups 8 to the body encircling band 6, which joint incorporates the larcuate supporting wire 3i). All seams eX- cept those holding the supporting wire in place are of the zig-zag form which permit stretching of the seams to complement stretching of the material forming the body encircling band 6 and the cups 8.

The cups 8 themselves are stretchable from their point of attachment to the body encircling band 6 to the extent that the cups will expand from size A through size D. Due to the cut of the upper and lower sections 14 and 15 of the cups S and their method of joining by the ladder stitching 18 and zig-zag stitching 20, stretching can take place forwardly of the body encircling band 6 independently of stretch of their upper edges 31 and 3S.

The contour support members 21 secured to the lower sections 15 of the cups are free to expand and contract with the stretching of the cups from size A through size D due to their scalloped edge shape and the fact that they are secured to a free oating liner Z3 only at their lower edge 22.

While the arcuate shaped support wire 30 stabilizes the mid portion of the garment and the adjacent ends of the wires at the mid portion of the garment are held in spaced i relation by the insert 39, the opposite outer ends of the wires have suticient free movement that they do not impede or restrict expansion or contraction of the cups 8 or the body encircling band 6.

What I claim is:

1. A brassiere having a pair of breast cups stretchable from size A through size D for each size of brassiere comprising a body encircling band formed of material stretchable in all directions, a pair of breast cups formed of material stretchable in all directions, the said breast pockets having upper and lower sections, the adjacent edges of the said upper and lower sections being secured together by a seam of ladder stitching securing the sections together in a vertical plane and zig-zag stitching permitting stretch of the breast cups in a horizontal plane, the said breast cups having their lower and side edges secured by stitching to said body encircling band, a pair of shoulder straps stretchably secured along one end portion of their length to an upper longitudinal edge portion of the body encircling band .and at their opposite ends stretchably secured along an upper and inwardly facing edge portion of an adjacent breast cup, and means to stabilize and support the lower portions of the said breast cups at their juncture with the said body encircling band.

2. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1 in which the said means to stabilize and support the lower portions of the said breast cups includes an arcuate wire embedded in a seam joining the said breast pockets to the said body encircling band, and a reinforcing member and a liner of material stretchable in all directions, the said reinforcing member being stitched along its lower edge to the said liner and the said liner is stitched to the lower edge of the lower section of the breast cup, the said reinforcing member being interposed between the said liner and the inner facing surface of the breast cup.

3. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1 in which the top horizontal edges of the said Ibody encircling band and the said breast pockets between the end portions of the said shoulder straps are stretchable in a horizontal plane.

4. A brassiere as set forth in claim 2 in which the said reinforcing member is provided with a series of deep scallops on the edge thereof opposite from its attachment to the said liner, making the said reinforcing member readily bendable in a horizontal plane and into contour of the breast cup.

5. A brassiere as set forth in claim 2 in which the said reinforcing member in each breast cup is made in two parts located one on each side of the vertical medial line of the cups.

5/1965 Gingras 12S-51() ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

